SubscriptionsCategory: UK Politics
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Rishi Sunak: The Polished Populist
Sam Bright inspects the policy record of the man tipped to take over from Boris Johnson
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The Gray Report: Misleading Parliament and Misconduct in Public Office
Lawyer Gareth Roberts looks beyond the breaking of lockdown rules to the wider implications and legal standing of the much anticipated Cabinet Office report
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Experts Raise Alarm Over Prison Overcrowding as Government Pursues Draconian Crime Bill
Sascha Lavin explores the ticking time-bomb at the heart of the criminal justice system
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Wealth in Downing Street, Poverty in the UK
The Conservative Party could soon elect the UK’s richest-ever Prime Minister, while after 12 years of Conservative-led Governments millions struggle in poverty
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Boris Johnson is Using Police Investigation into Downing Street Parties to Block Sue Gray’s Report
The Prime Minister is now in the desperate position of hiding behind a police investigation into himself, reports Adam Bienkov
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Conservative Rebellion Against Johnson Led by Pandemic Disinformation Network
Steve Baker’s COVID Recovery Group was backed by a company whose chairman is also a director of Toby Young’s COVID website
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Downing Street Didn’t Record Work Meeting With Lulu Lytle on Boris Johnson’s Birthday
A key defence of the Prime Minister’s birthday party is undermined by official documents, reports Sam Bright Downing Street and the Cabinet Office didn’t record a work meeting with the interior designer Lulu Lytle on Boris Johnson’s birthday, official logs show. Another Downing Street lockdown scandal has emerged over the last day, after ITV reported…
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The Conservatives have Failed on Apprenticeships
Sam Bright inspects the gap between rhetoric and reality in relation to one of the Conservative Party’s key policy planks
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Enabling Acts: Citizenship of Quarter of Britons at Risk as Conservatives Construct an Authoritarian Legal Infrastructure
Nafeez Ahmed analyses eight bills which, taken as a whole, reveal an unprecedented and undemocratic ethno-nationalist power grab
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Government Ignored Warning Immigration Policy Undermined Public Health in Pandemic
Nearly half of migrants with no recourse to public funds surveyed by a migrant rights charity said the hostile environment left them ‘too scared’ to access healthcare
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Sue Gray’s Inquiry: The Great Charade Exposing Our Failing Democracy
The notion that a civil servant working within the structure she is tasked with scrutinising can get to the truth of the Downing Street parties is an affront to Britain’s political system, says Brian Cathcart
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Islamophobia is Endemic in the Conservative Party
New allegations made by the Conservative MP Nus Ghani are the latest evidence of endemic Islamophobia in Boris Johnson’s party, reports Adam Bienkov
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New Poll Shows Scale of Conservative Party’s Electoral Problem Under Boris Johnson
Exclusive polling by Omnisis for Byline Times illuminates the scale of public distrust in the Prime Minister and his party
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Trust in Government Worryingly Low as Lords Vote for ‘Assault on Democracy’ Elections Bill
New polling shows that English voters lack faith in our democracy – with mistrust of democratic systems a key driver for far-right support
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Best of Bylines Network: 21 January 2022
Byline Times provides a guide to the top stories this week on its sister network of regional sites promoting local writers and citizen journalism
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The Politics of Porridge
With inflation now at 5.4% and the cost of living soaring with it, the humble oat has become an avatar of moral virtue in a right-wing culture war, Sian Norris reports
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A Broken State: A Visit to the Epicentre of the War in Afghanistan
Francesca Borri reports from Sangin, a place scarred by the events of the past 20 years, and considers what the American legacy is for a country now in chaos
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Britain’s Immovable Institutions: The Diversity Deficit in the Upper Ranks of the Army
Sascha Lavin reveals new data about the lack of black representation in top army positions, and considers what this shows about modern Britain
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Johnson Threatened to Strip Local Funding While Deprivation Surged
The Prime Minister used the vulnerable and the impoverished, already suffering due to the pandemic, as pawns in his self-preservation strategy, notes Sam Bright
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The Hangover of Bullingdon Club Britain
Peter Jukes explains why the ongoing scandal about lockdown-breaking parties hit the Prime Minister’s core appeal more than crony contracts, personal expenses or his handling of the Coronavirus crisis
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Boris Johnson is Blackmailing Conservative MPs ‘Like a Mafia Boss’
Senior Conservative MP William Wragg calls on colleagues to report the Government to the police for its attempts to intimidate Boris Johnson’s critics in the party, reports Adam Bienkov
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King of Chaos Boris Johnson Has Delivered for Hedge Fund Donors
As the media rightly focus on the PM’s alleged COVID rule-breaking, financial institutions quietly report pandemic profits, reports Tim Coles
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The Jackpot: How London Became a Concierge for Kleptocrats
Novelist Cory Doctorow tracks Britain’s domestic scandals back to the capital’s reliance on laundered money from overseas, and the feasting of so many professions on the proceeds
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A Broken Pact: The Red Wall Revolt Represents the Toppling of Boris Johnson’s Messiah Myth
The Prime Minister has broken the moral code on which he was elected by those who took a chance on his leadership, says Sam Bright
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Boris Johnson’s Spell Over the Conservative Party has been Broken
Johnson’s authority over his party and the country is rapidly draining away – as was evident at another difficult Prime Minister’s Questions, reports Adam Bienkov
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Dominic Raab’s ‘Operation Red Meat’ Justice Plans Will Backfire
Increasing the powers of magistrates will only put more pressure on the already strained crown court, says Gareth Roberts
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‘A Life-Threatening Situation’: How Prison Fails Mothers and Children
Three years after a parliamentary committee recommended the Ministry of Justice records how many mothers are in prison, the National Audit Office criticises lack of progress on supporting female offenders, including lack of data collection on women with dependant children
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Will Conservative Chaos Halt the Green Agenda?
With focus on the climate emergency once again fading from headlines, Tom Burke assesses the achievements of the COP26 summit and how prioritising green policies could be a casualty of the Prime Minister’s current political turmoil
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The Hostile Environment for Rough Sleepers is Costing Lives
In November 2020, Priti Patel made rough sleeping grounds for deportation. Samir Jeraj spent a year with the Museum of Homelessness as part of a project to push-back against the policy
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Boris Johnson has Exposed a Void at the Heart of Conservatism
There is a growing consensus that the Prime Minister’s days are numbered – but his party has few ideas about how to renew itself or the country, reports Adam Bienkov
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A Guide to the Radicalisation of the Conservative Party
Sam Bright digs into the recent history of Boris Johnson’s party, to explain why its centre of gravity has shifted markedly to the right
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Liz Truss: The Tufton Street Candidate
Sam Bright unravels the ties between Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss and Westminster’s network of opaque libertarian think tanks
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A New Era of Austerity Beckons
For the past 12 years, the Conservative Party’s response to high public spending has always been the same: impose the burden on lower income families, says Maheen Behrana
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The Media-Political Complex Consumes Another Prime Minister
The incestuous relationship between politicians and the press now frames the very nature of British democracy, says Mic Wright
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The Online Arms Race Benefits the Conservatives at the Expense of Democracy
Former Labour MP Ian Lucas explores how politics is being warped by online surveillance, data harvesting and ruthless social media campaigning – and why opposition parties need to take action to tackle this
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The Data Doesn’t Back Dorries on TV Licence Fee
The Culture Secretary has announced sweeping changes to BBC funding will mean an end to elderly people being threatened by the Beeb – but are elderly people really going to prison for not paying their licence fee?
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A Johnson Regicide: Another Great Political Escape?
Professor Chris Painter evaluates the prospects of the Conservative Party should Boris Johnson’s latest crisis of leadership prove terminal
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Best of Bylines Network: 14 January 2022
Byline Times provides a guide to the top stories this week on its sister network of regional sites promoting local writers and citizen journalism
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Sajid Javid Signs Off £1 Billion Private Health Windfall as MPs Sound Alarm
The Health and Social Care Secretary has agreed an ‘insurance policy’ with private providers, in breach of Treasury spending guidelines, reports David Hencke
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The Metropolitan Police is Complicit in Downing Street Law-Breaking
The Met has outsourced the decision on whether to investigate a crime into the hands of the institution accused of committing it, says Adam Bienkov
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Trafficking Victims Will Face ‘Trauma Deadline’ as a Result of Nationality and Borders Bill
Successive Home Secretaries have made ending modern slavery a priority – but new clauses in the Nationality and Borders Bill could make identifying victims harder, Sian Norris reports
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Back to School – But Will Johnson’s Omicron Gamble Pay Off?
Two weeks into the new school term, as omicron cases continue to spread, what’s the impact of the Government’s Coronavirus policy on teachers, pupils and school staff?
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The Highs and Lows of 2021: A Disabled Person’s Perspective
Penny Pepper shares some of the enduring inequalities and the memorable breakthroughs which characterised the past year for disabled people
